Yet another snub for Pleasure Island redevelopment scheme - this time from Natural England

The Pleasure Island redevelopment project remains beleaguered by objections - the latest from Natural England 

IT seems it never rains but it pours for the consortium seeking to redevelop Pleasure Island.

The latest setback comes from Natural England which has reiterated its longstanding misgivings.

The Government body fears pressure from an influx of visitors to the 272 holiday cabins and two hotels pose an unacceptable risk to the welfare of thousands of shorebirds that spend much of the year feeding on the nearby mouth of the Humber sandflats.

In a memo to North East Lincolnshire Council's planning department, NE officer Louis Jones states bluntly: "Your authority should not grant planning permission at this stage."  

The consortium's agents, Lichfields, have always been aware of the wildlife concerns and sought to mitigate the risk by announcing an on-site ban on dogs and the appointment of a £22,000-per-annum wildlife ranger, plus volunteer naturalists, to seek to dissuade holidaymakers from causing disturbance.

If even offered to try to re-route visitors away from the beachfront along the Buck Beck footpath, past the golf course to Cleethorpes country park.

But so far it has been unable to convince Natural England that these measures would be effective.

Mr Jones says the proposed measures  do not "provide enough information and/or certainty." 

In particular, NE wants more assurances firstly about how a dog ban would be enforced  and secondly about the job description of the proposed Pleasure Island wildlife ranger.

It is also insisting on a report that provides detailed bird counts for every calendar month for a full year to clarify the current population status of shorebirds on this part of the estuary.

                                            

Redshank, a declining wetland bird, are particularly susceptible to human disturbance